The Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber will host Gov. Doug Burgum as the keynote speaker at its 2022 Annual Meeting and Dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Alerus Center.
The dinner was moved to Jan. 26 from its original day to accommodate Burgum’s schedule.
The event will begin with a social, as well as an auction display before the dinner, which will be followed by the night’s program and keynote speaker, Burgum. The event will end with the announcement of the Henry Havig Award winner.
“We're really honored that the governor has decided to speak in our annual general meeting,” Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber, said. “He was here a few months ago and spent almost the whole day touring some of the downtown projects and projects around the community. Grand Forks is really in what I would call a ‘high- growth mode,’ and there's a lot of momentum. We're really glad the governor is coming to our annual general meeting to talk a little bit about his impressions of our community, and we're really excited that he's willing to share his thoughts.”
Wilfahrt said Burgum was the keynote speaker for the chamber’s annual meeting a few years ago and he’s excited for him to return.
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“I want to save say four or five years ago, (Burgum) was our annual meeting featured speaker,” Wilfahrt said. “But Gov. Burgum meets with community leaders and business people a couple times a year typically, and then every other year, we take a delegation of 50 plus people out for Grand Forks Day at the Legislature, and Gov. Burgum spends an hour a little more with that group just to learn a little bit about some of the good things happening in Grand Forks and how the state and the community can partner and grow the community and make the community better for all the citizens who live in Grand Forks.”
